If You Can't Eat It, Then Wear It
Author's Note: Please read and review. I appreciate every comment. Thanks!
The greasy smell of baked potato fritters and the over-cheesed pizzas wafted out as Arielle pulled on the cool, brass handle to the cafeteria. She picked her way through the endless hordes of people rushing in, glad to get away from the over-air conditioned classrooms.
Looking away from the row of appetizing cookies and delicacies, she was turning to the sushi bar when she was saved from having to file to the back of the line. She saw that Winter was already there in front of the plastic-dome covered food platters, a beige tray in her hand. Winter crooked her fingers from the line, and Arielle ducked under the chains to meet her.
"Hey." Winter said, grabbing a pair of chopsticks from the sushi bar to add to her plate. Since Jade had deemed that the school's daily hamburger and fries intake as completely unacceptable, they'd only been allowed to eat from the salad and the sushi bar. And because Winter hated the way that she wasn't allowed to have any ranch dressing on her salad—too much fatty oils—the only choice she had left was the sushi bar.
"Have you seen them?" Arielle whispered, leaning over while her eyes searched the crowd. She'd already seen the girl first period, but that was about it. No signs of the other two.
Winter shook her head. "No. I spent the morning in the nurse's office."
"Why?" Arielle frowned. Winter always made up an excuse to go to the nurse when she wasn't "feeling well." Like the time she hadn't bothered to study for her Mesopotamia quiz.
"I forgot to finish Duncan's history project." Winter sighed almost sadly. She would've felt bad for wasting all that faith her parents had in her (first female president or some other crap), but when the world was at your fingertips, you're supposed to take it and not think twice about it. Then she looked up again at Arielle, "My cramps conveniently lasted through the entire period."
"How fortunate," Arielle muttered, grabbing her own stomach. Why hadn't she thought of that during first period? Then, she would've been able to gossip with Winter behind Mrs. Santiago's back instead having to sit through two hours, learning about all the gory details of the Alamo. Would learning about it now do anything to change what had already happened? Answer: No. Therefore, Arielle was forced to conclude that the entire class period had been complete bullshit.
"Did you see them?" Winter asked pointedly. Arielle's face was going into a zoned out expression, which usually meant that she was having another conversation with herself. The only reason that Winter knew that was because Arielle had once accidentally said it out loud while the two of them were walking through the halls.
The two of them had gone back to grab Winter's fur, Anna Sui jacket because it had been raining outside. Winter had been so caught up talking about how anal her mother had been that morning that she hadn't realized that Arielle was completely silent until Winter looked back and saw the same zoned out expression on her friend's face.
"Ari?" Winter had whispered, afraid that Arielle was going into post-heart attack stage. She had racked her brain, trying to remember what her freshmen health course had said about the process of reviving someone if they should stop breathing, and came up with nothing. If she remembered correctly, she'd spent that class watching Arielle and Jade text each other across the room and feeling jealous that she couldn't be a part of their secret giggles and exchanges.
"I'm going to have to cancel on Queens." Arielle had murmured, running her fingers through her golden curls. She seemed to have blocked out Winter entirely. Her eyes were unmoving as she stared straight ahead, blankly. "And then I should pick up the dozen of chrysanthemums. They should be in by now."
When Winter heard that, she even remembered feeling annoyed. It was sad, now that she thought about it, but true.
Hello, Arielle. What do chrysanthemums have anything to do with my mom yelling at me?
Winter had wanted to shake her friend on the shoulder. She could've imagined how pissed off she would've been if she hadn't noticed then that Arielle had silent tears running down both sides of her beautiful face.
"It's useless," Arielle had said, sobbing. When Winter had nudged her in the shoulder blades, she saw that Arielle's fingernails had clawed into her arms so much that the was a slight trail of blood running.
If Arielle hadn't looked so tortured, Winter would've found it almost funny later, after she'd gotten over herself.
Seriously, Ari. Talking to yourself? And I thought that was something everyone got over back in first grade, Winter would've joked later if Arielle hadn't scared the shit out of her.
But Winter had been so frightened that she'd never brought it up again. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what Arielle had been talking about. And since Arielle had quickly wiped away the tears, and resumed her normal face afterwards, it was kind of pointless to bring it up again.
It was the first time that Winter had realized that this was what happened when Arielle was angry. And it scared her more than Jade. Jade took her anger out on other people, but Arielle too it out on herself to deal with it.
Winter wasn't sure what she would do if Arielle had another meltdown in the middle of the cafeteria right now.
But thankfully for Winter, Arielle immediately snapped back to the present. The two of them carefully maneuvered through the crowds while balancing their lunch trays on one arm and using the other to grip the shoulder strap of their designer bags.
Arielle considered the question that Winter had asked her. She felt like any van Buren question was a trick one. If she lied, then Jade would find out and Arielle would have to suffer. If she told the truth, then Jade would keep on quizzing her and she would suffer nonetheless.
As Arielle saw it, she was screwed either way.
"Yeah," Arielle said, deciding to go with the truth. Of the two, this was the more desirable option. In truth, Arielle had sat in the back, and watched the girl nervously tap her foot on the floor repeatedly. Maybe Jade would hear her out and leave it at that instead of getting her to analyze foot-tapping and how it was ultimately deadly, or something.
The two of them slapped their trays down on the glass table tops with a smack and sat down in a perfectly synchronized motion. If anyone had been looking at them, they would've seen two heads—one gold and one ebony—swing back down again.
When they sat down, Ryder and West both looked up from where they'd been having an in-depth conversation. Both of their arms were folded and their faces tilted down. Sometimes, Arielle felt like she and Jade weren't the only twins around here. Lately, she'd begun noticing that their movements often mirrored one another's.
"So, how'd it go?" West asked Winter, smirking discreetly to Ryder in a I-know-what-you-did way.
Winter shook her head to show that she didn't have anything to bring to the table at all, and the other two resumed their conversation. Hearing the two boys joke around with something she couldn't contribute to at all was boring. She looked around greenhouse-like lunch hall. On the outside, it had big, glass panes on the side that jutted out into the school courtyard. On the inside, clear panes were set on the marble table, and the seat felt nice and cool beneath her. All around, framed paintings hung on the white wall and Winter could see splays of bags on the floor, providing one of the only color sources in the room.
"Hey," Jade said, swooping down out of nowhere with Duke in tow, and sat down on the girl's side smoothly. "How's everyone today?"
Translation: Depending on what you've gotten done and how happy I am with it will determine how everyone will be for the rest of the day.
"Yeah, Ryder. How are you today?" Duke said in a mimic of a high-pitched voice, with the same knowing smile on his face as West had.
In response, Ryder shoved Duke in the arm.
"Yeah, did you get her digits?" West taunted on Ryder's other side. "Are you going to ask her out?"
"Did everyone here but me get to see her?" Winter asked exasperatedly. She was starting to think that it hadn't been such a good idea to skip first period. If she hadn't, maybe she would know the inside joke that everyone else was talking about. Apparently, Ryder had been pretty busy during the time she was gone.
Jade shook her head. "No, I didn't either." And immediately, Winter felt a wave of relief wash over. So she wasn't the only clueless one. And if Jade didn't know either, then they were all about to find out in a minute.
"So, did I miss something that I should probably know about?" Jade smiled tightly to let them know that they'd better confess. More than anything, she wanted to know what Hannah's kids were like. And if she didn't get an accurate impression, there was no way for her to know what kind of challenge she was faced with. And if she couldn't meet that challenge, life for everyone as they knew it, was going to go to hell.
"So where is she?" Jade asked the table through gritted teeth. Even she couldn't fail to notice that the table had fallen silent all of a sudden. The three guys were now clearing their throats uncomfortably. They were hiding something. She could smell it radiating off them. It was so obvious. "Well?"
"She's sitting in the far corner, the one with the split in the seat. All of them are." Arielle said in an tired voice when she noticed that no one else was going to speak up. Let the boys be all bravado when talking about it, and then totally turn into cowards the minute they had to do something.
Winter looked over, casting her eyes, and saw that there were indeed three people sitting there. The girl was wearing an outfit that looked like Winter would've picked out herself, and it seemed like something even Jade would approve of.
Hmm, wonder why.
The girl was sitting on the seat with the split. Her skinny legs were crossed over each other, and her best attribute was probably her hair. It was a deep, rich red that waved down to her ribs. On top of that, her chest would've been to die for. Winter knew of many models who'd tried—and ended up looking like fakes—to get theirs done to the same size. When the girl looked up, there was an expression in her eyes too. It wasn't like the way Arielle's had been, though. Her mint green eyes were dreamy, like her body was here, but she was off in a more pleasant place.
Jade eyed the youngest one. It was obvious that he was the baby of the family. Every time he opened his mouth, he quickly looked to see if his older siblings were paying attention. Like his sister, his hair was like a flaming fire, and he had the look of someone who'd just grown into his limbs and was still trying to adjust the rest of his body to the transformation. She was quick to note that he looked the most insecure of the three. Note: intense fidgeting, playing with fingers, and scared, cow eyes.
Arielle let her eyes roam over the older brother. It was definitely the one she'd seen in the car this morning. The lurking one. Now that he wasn't in hiding, she was free to study him more carefully. Arielle had remembered that his hair was the only one that was a blonde-brown color. It had been messy, like he'd gotten out of bed this morning, and hadn't bothered to comb his hair. His nose was slightly crooked, and his mouth opened slightly to show his dentals. He now wore a hat that hid the top half of his face, including his eyes, and his whole body gave a I-don't-give-a-damn-what-you-think-about-me vibe.
Even as they all carefully analyzed the three people, "I see," was all Jade allowed, though she was putting it mildly. From the way she was glaring at them, it was a miracle they hadn't felt the intensity of it. Until the girl shifted her body so that it was positioned in better lighting.
When she did, Jade slammed down the fork so hard the she could feel the sharp edges make a sick, scratching sound on the surface of the table. "What. The. Hell." she hissed, her eyes now following the girl like a bumblebee.
"Oh," Arielle said in a small shock of surprise, following her sister's gaze, where it landed on the royal-purple colored jersey dress.
It was the one Jade had been saving for her and Duke's reunion dinner this weekend. Obviously, now that it'd already been worn, she would never be able to wear it and not mentally compare the two images. The girl's chest fit nicely into it the way the Jade wouldn't ever have been able to pull off. And now that Duke had already seen it on her, it was deigned to never be worn by Jade. Ever Again.
Inside of her, Jade felt despair. She'd searched so long for something perfect, and then when she finally found it, she was being punished by having to watch someone else wear it.
Was this punishment for all the times she'd ruined other people's lives?
Well, Jade told herself evenly, trying to do anything but fly across the room, and demand that the girl take it off, if I'm not going to wear it, then neither is anyone else. Certainly not that daughter of the home-wrecker.
But still, it was painful watching all those hours spent in dressing rooms go to waste. Jade mentally ran over a list to help herself control her predatory instincts:
If Jade were to make her take it off, her boobs would probably pop out of the cheap, home-made bra underneath. And that was something Duke most definitely did not need to see.
Jade was not willing to take the chance that in the end, she'd be the one getting embarrassed. Jade prided herself for her mental strength, not her physical.
Jade would automatically lose that element of surprise that she'd been hoping to use.
There was so much more Jade could do with that shirt on. And who was she to deny her public a good entertainment to help them get through the rest of the day?
With those thoughts, Jade felt the wheels turning inside her head again, faster and faster, until she knew exactly what she needed to help make herself feel better. She slid off her side and quickly ran to the nearest line, cutting everyone else. Ignoring the feeble protests, she searched the ice bucket and grabbed the cold bottle in her hand, leaving without even paying for it. Considering how much that her father had already helped donate towards the school, she felt like she was at least entitled to grab a free drink when she didn't have the time to pull out her American Express.
Then, ignoring the looks that her table was shooting towards her direction, Jade plopped down at the cheerleader's table.
"Jade," gasped Alana, head cheerleader, "hi. Are you okay?" she said, noticing Jade's crazed, and out of control face.
"Yeah." Jade forced a smile onto her face. "But you see, I have a little problem. See that girl over there by the corner? The one with the purple dress? I don't know how, but make sure that you get this and whatever else you can come up with, onto that shirt. I don't care how you do it, as long as it's disgustingly awful, and loud." Jade paused to see if Alana was following her. "Got it?"
" Do I get rewarded if I do this right?" Alana asked hopefully.
"No. You get punished if you do this wrong." Jade said through her smile. Then, noticing Alana's fallen face, she added, "But do this right, and you can eat with us tomorrow."
How very generous of her.
"Oh, and one more thing. This was never my idea." Jade hissed in Alana's ear, squeezing pressure onto her shoulder to show how dead serious she was.
Now that her mission was accomplished, Jade pushed herself away from the cheerleader's table as fast as she could. Their atmosphere made her sick. Nobody should be allowed to be so happy when Jade was feeling this shitty. She almost felt like strangling their throats whenever they opened their mouths. She would've if she didn't need them to do her dirty work for her.
Two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate? Go, Cougars!
Two four, six, eight, shut the hell up before it's too late, Jade thought as she pranced back to her lucky table 17.
"Gatorade?" Arielle asked when Jade got back, confused. The only other time that Jade had held a Gatorade bottle had been when she'd been reading the nutrition bar on it. Which, had then promptly earned it a spot in the "Foods to Avoid at all Costs" pile. Along with a lot of other junk food that made Arielle's mouth water just thinking about it.
"Aren't you the one who said that we shouldn't drink it because it's mostly artificial sugars?" Winter pointed out, trying to be helpful. Just in case Jade was losing her mind.
"Who says that I was going to be the one drinking it?" Jade replied, too busy to actually care about what Winter and Arielle were thinking right now. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Alana making her way down the aisle. Balanced on her arms were the leftover bits of lunch on the cheerleader's table. Jade could make out the distinct color of an already rotting apple and a half-chewed on, soggy sandwich.
Perfect. It looked like Alana knew exactly what she was doing.
Jade eyed Alana, and smiled over the top of her hooded eyes, and gave a barely-there nod to encourage her little, blonde minion.
Now properly enthused, Alana's footsteps became more distinctive clips as her flats got closer and closer. Jade's eyes carefully followed Alana, and everything seemed to be going into slow motion. The cafeteria noise dimmed in her ears, and the bright lighting increased by mega watts. Even though nothing had changed in the lunchroom, Jade could feel herself watching everything like it was a movie.
Lights, Alana started unscrewing the Gatorade cap off. The plates of half-eaten food started sliding towards the right side. Two feet away.
Camera, the cafeteria was now watching her with one eye and slowly, the noise began to really dim down. Just a little more to go...
And, action! Alana's wrist tipped just a little, and sent all the food sprawling onto the girl's hair, her face, and down her shirt. Then, Jade watched with increased satisfaction, as she tipped the bright red Gatorade bottle straight down the purple shirt. Jade knew that the stains would never, ever come out again. A lasting impression of her first day in Beverly Hills.
May there be many, many more to come, Jade silently toasted, her body thrumming with the thrill of another plan being perfectly executed. She lifted her bottled mineral water in unspoken acknowledgement to her accomplishment.
All around her, the cafeteria had begun whispering to one another, and then had burst out laughing. It wasn't loud, but it was definitely there, and it was definitely what Jade wanted. In the far corner, the girl awkwardly looked around, and her big eyes were no longer dreamy; they were slowly filling with tears of embarrassment as she tried to pick off the pieces of green lettuce that were stuck to her splotchy front and the ham pieces in her hair.
Beverly Hills Lesson 1: Jade Lewallen is and has always been invincible.
Arielle carefully watched her sister out of the corner of her eye. She could recognize the happy gleam in Jade's expression, and immediately knew that everything had been orchestrated, probably all within the last ten minutes. Arielle tore her eyes away, only to meet Winter's.
Jade? Winter mouthed silently, moving her mouth as little as possible.
Arielle distinctively widened her eyes, to confirm Winter's question. Why did everything have to be so horrible when Jade was involved? She sighed to herself as she thought about all the other times, trying to keep it quiet.
Even so, Jade heard her and turned to narrow her eyes. "Don't you dare walk out on this." she murmured in a semi-threatening tone, seeming to read Arielle's mind, like she always did.
And Arielle looked down at her lap, too much of a coward to try to defy her sister's authority. She knew that Jade knew this and always used it to her advantage.
Jade watched as the girl stood up, fumbling to get out of the corner she was in, throwing off her brothers' attempts to calm her. She ran right out the cafeteria door once her legs were untangled from each other, real tears now flowing freely from the corners of her eyes.
And the entire school watched as she slowly ran out the door, their laughter following after her back. This was what Jade had done, what she had created.
And she watched this all with a satisfied smile turning up her lips. If the girl was crying now, just wait until she found out what was going to happen to her next. This was only the beginning. And until the end came, it was only going to get a lot worse. Count on it.